ABSTRACT
A coal-fired power plant's operation can release radioactive nuclides and radon gas into the environment, affecting the surrounding ecosystem. In this work, the collective effective dose due to the inhalation and the consumption of food containing the deposited radionuclides from the atmospheric release of the plants were evaluated. The results show that the radioactivity concentration in coal and fly ash samples depends on the origin of feed coal. The distribution of Th and U radionuclides in the 6a1 dust coal and bituminous coal is different. In general, the collective effective dose for different organs due to radiation exposure from the atmospheric release of two surveyed CFPP complexes are lower than the corresponding value published by UNSCEAR.
Subject(s)
Ecosystem , Radiation Exposure , Coal/analysis , Environmental Monitoring , Power Plants , Radioisotopes/analysis , VietnamABSTRACT
The results of gross alpha and beta radioactivity measurement in water spinach samples from some districts in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam are presented in this paper. The measurements were performed using a low-background proportional counters LB4200 manufactured by Canberra Company, Inc. Mean concentrations of gross alpha and beta activity were found to be 1.50 ± 0.38 Bq kg-1 to 84.25 ± 8.67 Bq kg-1. In order to keep the recommended dose level, a recommended maximum intake of water spinach was proposed to be 6 kg fresh per year. The total annual committed effective dose due to natural radionuclides in water spinach samples was then found in range from 0.07 mSv y-1 to 0.82 mSv y-1. The dose from 26.32% of samples exceeds the exemption mean dose criterion of 0.3 mSv y-1 but complies with the upper dose principle of 1 mSv y-1 provided in UNSCEAR 2008 report. The estimated soil-to-plant transfer factors for gross alpha and beta for water spinach samples were also presented.
